Mayor Coleen J. Seng will sign a proclamation declaring April 23 through 29 as “Infant Immunization Awareness Week” at a ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 24 in the Mayor’s Conference Room. She will be joined by Beth Carlson, Chair of the Lincoln-Lancaster Immunization and Vaccine Effort Coalition; Bruce Dart, Director of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department; and children from the early childhood day care program at UNL.

“The recent outbreak of mumps illustrates the importance of having children immunized beginning at birth,” said Mayor Seng. “I am calling on parents, caregivers and public and private health care providers to do all they can to ensure early and on-time immunization against preventable childhood diseases.”

Carlson said most vaccine-preventable diseases have been reduced by 99 percent or more since the introduction of vaccines. “This makes vaccines one of the 20th century’s most successful and cost-effective public health tools,” she said.